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And more than a few general managers are happy that rebuilding Buffalo bought out defenceman Christian Ehrhoff on Sunday, another late addition to what were meagre or over-priced offerings in the unrestricted free agent market that opens Tuesday.

Ehrhoff had seven years to go on a 10-year, $40-million deal inked in 2011, which put a $4-million annual hit on the Sabres’ cap. He was Buffalo’s second buyout after winger Ville Leino and followed a series of similar moves around the league as teams cleared the books for July 1.

“It adds players that you hope your team can get at a better price,” said one NHL exec on Sunday evening. “You know these guys aren’t going to sign for what they had before. You are going to get more players coming into the picture.

“You hear management guys say it all the time: “I love this player or that player at $3 million, but I hate him at $5 million’.”

Count Detroit and a lot of Western teams in the mix for Ehrhoff.

Just as UFAs make it easier to rebuild, the recent trend of veteran players trying to engineer their own trade destinations has made the process more difficult for their current teams.

After goalie Ryan Miller made his preferences clear in the regular season before the Sabres could finally get a deal with the Blues, Ottawa’s Jason Spezza lists 10 teams he won’t play for has hung up one of the key deals of the summer.

At the draft, Ottawa GM Bryan Murray was seeking a first-round pick, a roster player and a prospect for Spezza, but his captain’s limited no-trade clause is believed to have torpedoed a deal with Nashville, one of the 10 teams Spezza can veto. Some kind of Nashville deal might yet get ressurected if another UFA centre, Paul Stastny, goes to a team such as St. Louis and Spezza’s options become limited.

“It complicates your life, no question,” an NHL team exec said of players’ having no-go lists. “It’s just another restriction we have to put up with in a cap system — and more players are getting full no-movement clauses in their contracts.

“Some teams benefit from that at times, like when an agent calls up and says: ‘We want to come to your team’ and you weren’t really aware of it. But it can be a double-edged sword if they just want to come (for a sunset season or strictly personal satisfaction). So you have to be careful.”

RUMBLINGS AND DEALS

The Oilers finally dealt centre Sam Gagner to the Lightning Sunday night for winger Teddy Purcell ... The Islanders, who’ve been making noise in the free-agent market and the draft floor, have contacted the bought-out Brad Richards about crossing over from Manhattan. Stranger things have happened ... Twenty-year veteran defenceman Ed Jovanovski, who has had two good runs with the Panthers, was made a compliance buyout on Sunday. He just turned 38 ... Sniper Matt Moulson’s old teams, Buffalo and the Isles, are pursuing him again and with Ottawa in need of a few forwards, Murray will likely be involved there ... In other developments with Ottawa’s UFAs, forward Milan Michalek could be eyeing a reunion with brother Zbynek in Phoenix, one of 12 teams looking at him. Ales Hemsky could be looking for in excess of $5 million a season but will have a hard time getting that ... If there’s less and less stock being put in plus/minus numbers you can bet Michalek (negative 25) and Spezza (26) will be in agreement ... The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports long-term deals for goalie Marc-Andre Fleury and defenceman Paul Martin are not being discussed and might take until well into next season to heat up. They are “unlikely to intensify” according to GM Jim Rutherford before October, with Martin eyeing free agency in 2015 ... Goalie Justin Peters, long overshadowed behind Cam Ward in Carolina, will get some calls this week ... Big Rangers’ forward Benoit Pouliot, who lasted longer in the playoffs than 2005 top-five draft class alumni Sidney Crosby and Carey Price, will get lots of attention on Tuesday.

LOW MARKS IN FRENCH CLASS

As the Ontario and Western Hockey Leagues celebrated their players comprising almost two thirds of the NHL’s first round, it was quiet in the QMJHL. Only 14 players were selected from the Q overall, less than half of last year, with only nine Quebec natives. The first, Nicolas Aube-Kubel of Val d’Or, didn’t go until 48th overall.